Brrrutal! Bone-chilling temperatures grip millions across eastern U.S.

Deep freeze follows blizzard

Brrrutal! Bone-chilling temperatures grip millions across eastern U.S.

Brrrutal!

Adding insult to injury for millions of people across the United States and Canada, Sunday's blizzard was followed up by an arctic blast that sent temperatures and wind chills plummeting on Monday as officials urged those affected by the deep freeze to stay indoors.

In Boston, which on Sunday set a record for snowiest month ever (58.5 inches, surpassing January 2005's 43.3 inches), early Monday morning it was minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest temperature reading there in more than a decade.

In northern Vermont, residents awoke to temperature readings of 25 below zero — and that was without the wind chill.

The temperature in Richmond, Vermont, Feb. 16, 2015 (Courtesy Greg Lewis)
The temperature in Richmond, Vermont, Feb. 16, 2015 (Courtesy Greg Lewis)


The arctic blast pouring down from Canada brought freezing temperatures and subzero wind chills as far south as Washington, D.C., where the temperature felt like 5 below.


Equally bitter temperatures were felt in Michigan, where the overnight low in Newberry was 27 below.


In New York City, where it was a relatively balmy 1 degree, the fountain in Bryant Park froze over.


The Federal Emergency Management Agency urged those affected by the extreme cold to stay indoors unless checking on neighbors who might need assistance.

 

The cold snap has already proved deadly. In New Jersey, a 66-year-old woman was found frozen to death in the snow near her home early Sunday, according to Reuters:

Olivia Benito, 66, had stopped by a neighbor's house for drinks after they left a benefit event at an Elks Club in Lakewood, New Jersey, Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office, said in a news release. The neighbor told police that Benito had some alcoholic beverages during the course of the evening, Della Fave said. She left the neighbor's townhouse at about midnight to walk to her home two doors away, he said. The neighbor said she discovered Benito face down in snow when she went out to clear her car of snow at about 7 a.m. on Sunday, Della Fave said. She was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance personnel, he said. Police found no outward signs of trauma or foul play but the death remains under investigation, Della Fave said. The temperature at 7 a.m. on Sunday in the Lakewood area was 10 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

 

And on Coney Island, the body of an elderly man who police say may have frozen to death was found on the boardwalk Monday, the New York Post reported.

The National Weather Service passed along a handy graphic showing how the extreme cold affects the body.

(NWS/Green Bay)
(NWS/Green Bay)

 

Meanwhile, millions of people across the nation's midsection were bracing for a major winter storm that was expected to bring moderate to heavy snow from eastern Kansas to the Mid-Atlantic coast beginning Monday. Snowfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches were possible for a large swath of a region not used to the white stuff.

"Travel will be treacherous with some roads nearly impassable," the National Weather Service said. "Have an emergency kit of blankets, food, water and flashlights if you must travel."

Sleet and ice were expected for other parts of the Deep South — though you didn't need a weather map to see that.

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